Welcome to Project Life 2012 | Week Four.

Playing catch-up the last few days as I get back into the swing of everyday life after attending CHA.

As I was working on my week I was remembering how I’m not trying to tell “every” story in this project. Sometimes I scratch the surface and sometimes I tell longer stories. And sometimes, as I found out, I can focus on a theme.

A big thing that definitely came up this past week was an overall theme of adventure. Anna got her first library card (hello adventure), Chris took the kids sledding (hello adventure), I traveled to Anaheim (hello adventure). It was actually a new way for me to look at documenting the week as a whole – choosing a specific theme to emphasize vs. focusing on the everyday stories.

I’d encourage you to try it one of these weeks. As you look back at the end of the week or as the week evolves, what seems to emerge as a theme for the week? I definitely found it a nice way to bring it all together today and it helped me solidify which stories I wanted to tell.

Here’s a look at Week Four:

I’m still loving the Sharpie pens mixed with a finer pen for my journaling.

I’ve had those awesome Jenni Bowlin Days Of The Week stamps sitting on my table for way too long. Super happy to get those out and stamp them right onto the photo using StazOn.

The insert this week is an American Crafts 6×12 divided page protector.

I played around with my Silhouette and some new 4×6 sentiment boxes that will be available next week from Designer Digitals. I loved how the first set of 3×4 Hello Life Boxes worked as a “see-through” element and wanted that option for the 4×6 size.

I’ve also got two more sets of the 3×4 Hello Life Boxes: Volume 2 (months) and Volume 3 (available tomorrow – includes more words like he, she, you, us, etc).

I added an Avery Adhesive Clear Plastic Label along the outside.

I used an American Crafts Precision Pen to write on the photo below the Hello Winter Word Art (added to the photo before printing).

You can also see where I’ve got a sticky note to add some journaling that’s coming from Chris about their adventures sledding this past weekend.

Added a little Jenni Bowlin #2 along the edge of the top right photo. Yellow arrow is from Studio Calico.

That photo on the bottom actually happened on Monday night. Most likely I’ll start this week with a photo or two from my Anaheim adventures.

SUPPLIES | 2012 | WEEK 4

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Welcome to Project Life 2012 | Week Three.

It’s really hard to beat having a pile of just-printed photos.

My routine these last few weeks has been to print all my photos on Monday (my weeks go Monday to Sunday). I look back over the photos taken in the past week and hit print on whichever ones I like best (or whichever ones catch my attention).

Some of these in the photo above didn’t end up making it into my spread this week. I’m thinking I’ll just add them to next week.

Here’s a look at Week Three:

Being a birthday week I expected to have at least one insert to accommodate the number of photos. I ended up with two as you will see below.

I have to say that I’m really loving the Clementine journal cards. I feel like there is more space to write compared with last year (and I feel like I’m taking advantage of that so far).

We began our week with a dusting of snow (and that was it – just a dusting). On the top right photo I added a Hello Winter Brushes & Stamps (“heart snow”) by cutting it out with the Silhouette and then stapling it with the Tiny Attacher. On the bottom left photo I added some word art from my Sibling Brushes & Stamps. The photo of me and the big white balloon was a self-portrait for the February One Little Word prompt.

I also included one Instax Mini photo out of front door into the snow.

The first insert for this week uses the Design G Page Protectors. I decided to use this entire insert for things related to Simon’s birthday.

On the kraft piece of paper are the names of the kids Simon invited – he and Chris worked on the invitations together.

I used my Silhouette for two more things. The January frame is from the Hello Life Boxes Vol.2 package and the number 10 card is from my 3×4 Rounded Number Corner Cards package. Behind the #10 card I added a piece of Hambly Studios 12×12 Overlay Moustaches.

That “big day” date stamp is part of the new Dear Lizzy line from American Crafts (love it).

On the back I included a pirate napkin from the party. On top of the napkin I added Moss Notched Corners Labels from Paper Source and journaled about the party right on top.

I blurred the faces of the kids faces who attended the party.

The second insert is a We R Memory Keepers 8.5×11. Love this treasure hunt that Chris came up with – especially the part about the notorious pirate George.

On the back of this second insert I included the cards he received and a copy of the invitation.

After all that I really love how this page is just a bunch of words and photos. Photos + journal cards + a few little labels to identify photos. Love how this can be anything you want it to be.

SUPPLIES | 2012 | WEEK 3

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Welcome to Project Life 2012 | Week Two.

I’ve got a free “one little week” download for you today that includes both a PNG and a Silhouette file (both are included in a zip file – for more on downloading go here).

Click here to download One Little Week.

Enjoy!

Here’s a look at Week Two:

Lots and lots of photos this week.

Sometimes it leans heavier one way or the other (more or less photos) and I tend to just go with it. My Mom was here with us from Tuesday through yesterday helping me paint my office. It was a big job and I’m so thankful she was here to help.

I used my new Rituals & Routines word art set (“Tuesday Ritual”) on the bottom left photo. A Jillibean Soup Corrugated Heart is on top of some word art from my For The Love Of Love word art package. The little flag on the top photo is from Elles Studio.

For the insert this week I used a Design D page protector and cut off the outside pockets (I like when the inserts are smaller than the main pages for the week).

I loved doing the little 4×3 photos (tutorial available here) and including a couple vertical photos. I almost never take vertical shots (just not how I look through the lens) but since my Mom was here she shot a few with my camera. The photo of the crab I took with my iphone.

I really want to include a few more “peek through” elements like the one I did on my title page for 2012 throughout the year. The Silhouette works great for that – I was able to cut out this word element and stick it right in the pocket (download it for free at the beginning of this post).

The fact that you can’t read it from the back doesn’t bother me at all.

You might also notice that I placed two, 4×3 photos on one 4×6 canvas and added that into one of the vertical pockets vs. cutting them all out (and a good option for someone like me who takes more horizontal than vertical photos).

An Avery Self-Adhesive index tab along the edge of the insert. I don’t add these every time I include an insert, but a lot of the time.

Notes From Today tag is from Elles Studio.

SUPPLIES | 2012 | WEEK 2

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Welcome to Project Life 2012 | Week One.

In the comments of another post yesterday someone asked if I was using planning sheets for Project Life. I don’t use any planning sheets but it did remind me of the Daily Sheets I made for Week In The Life last year and wanted to include that as a link today as something fun to add to Project Life from time to time. You can download those for free here.

HUGE NOTE | I don’t treat Project Life the same as Week In The Life. Week In The Life is super detailed and intense in terms of documenting our life with photos and words for seven days in a row. I have no intention of bringing that sort of intensity to Project Life (and I didn’t last year) – it’s just not sustainable. SMALLER NOTE | I’m working on setting a date for Week In The Life 2012 (thinking late spring).

For me Project Life is an overview and a week-at-a-glance and a long-haul project (meaning it’s necessary to pace myself). It’s not a place for all the photos I take each week or for me to record every single detail of our lives. It is a place for me to jot down little bits of life, stick things in pockets, and tell stories. Some weeks those stories are super, super short and other weeks I’ll add longer stories like you’ll see included today.

Check out Monica’s post about her perspective on Project Life. It’s real and beautiful and encouraging.

Here’s a look at our Week One:

I have to say that I love that the journaling cards are just a bit bigger in this collection vs. the ones I used last year. Super happy with the Clementine design.

This week I’ve included both a 6×12 and an 8.5×11 page protector as inserts.

Word art on the first page of the 6×12 comes from my Twenty Twelve and Your Love digital packages. The 6×12 Words And Photos Layered Template package is available here. I designed this set because last year I really liked including longer stories from time to time in my album. Most often those stories originated in posts from my blog. By creating a template I’m simplifying the process for myself and can simply copy and paste the text into the template and add a photo.

Here’s a how-to video that will walk you through the steps of working with the 6×12 Words And Photos Layered Templates in Photoshop Elements:

6×12 Layered Template Tutorial from Ali Edwards on Vimeo.

The tutorial is about 27-mins long. It goes through all the steps and I spend a bit of time at the end talking about how I set up the files for printing.

The paper you see running through my printer is Epson 13×19 Ultra Premium Photo Paper. I put the two 6×12 pages onto one 12×12 canvas before printing (I show how to do this in the video tutorial above).

You can also set this up as a 12×12 JPG file and upload to a printer such as Persnickety Prints or Color Inc if you don’t have an oversized printer at home.

Another great tip if you don’t have an over-sized printer – you can run larger sizes through your regular-sized photo printer. You could get 11×14 photo paper and cut it down to 8.5×14 and run it through your printer (select Legal Size paper). I used to do that when printing larger sizes of journaling to put on 12×12 layouts before I got an over-sized printer.

Here you can see both 6×12′s on the one page:

I trimmed them down to size and stuck them in the page protector. Loved including that longer story.

Digital word art on the back is from my Thank You Friend package.

The second insert this week is something I tweeted about right before New Year’s. It’s a great little interview sheet from teachmama.com and can be downloaded here.

I stuck this one in and the more I look at it the more I think Katie probably painted it and not Anna.

I’m using the monthly tab dividers (should be available in February). Love their simplicity.

Word art used on the photo above is from my Outline Love digital set.

SUPPLIES | 2012 | WEEK 1

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Three new products available from me this weekend at Designer Digitals:

First up: 6×12 Words And Photos Layered Templates. Look for a tutorial on working with these layered templates (especially great for use with longer stories you want to tell in your Project Life album) next week. Simply mask your photo into the designated spot, assign your title, and type-in your story. These are similar to my Long Journalers but include layers for photos, editable text areas and editable titles.

For more on working with layered templates check out my page on Getting Started With Digital Scrapbooking.

3×4 Number Cards. These are great for adding to a digital layout, cutting with a Silhouette, or printing and adding to Project Life or another layout or project where numbers can help you tell your story.

Simply AE | Remember This Layered Template.

To view my complete collection of digital and printable products at Designer Digitals go here.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

I’ve had some requests over the last couple of weeks for help with how to print 3×4 photos (specially for use in the smaller Project Life page protector pockets). I put together a quick video tutorial that walks you through the steps to put 2, 3×4 images on a 4×6 canvas in Photoshop Elements.

You could definitely adapt these steps to put more 3×4 photos onto a larger background canvas (such as an 8×10).

Ali Edwards | Printing Small Photos for Project Life from Ali Edwards on Vimeo.

Welcome to Project Life 2011 | Week Fifty-Two.

52 weeks of photos and stories recorded.

I think the coolest part is that I’m totally jazzed up to keep going vs. feeling project fatigue. It’s become so much a part of my lifestyle and routine and it makes me so happy.

I’m also so excited that so many of you are embarking on this project this year. You can totally do this. Make it work for you.

In case you missed it, I posted my 2012 Title Page and some general reflections and thoughts on my process the other day – you can check it out here.

Here’s a look at the final week of 2011:

We spent most of last week at my parents house on the coast. It was a great way to ring in the new year.

I like that those Smash pad papers fit right into the pockets.

One 6×12 divided insert this week:

I’ve loved having this size page protector in my stash of supplies this past year. It’s perfect for week’s when I have extra photos because I personally like having smaller sized inserts – either width or height – vs. including additional full pages.

Along the edge of the 6×12 insert I added an Avery Self-Adhesive Index Tab.

A few simple stickers added to some of the photos – this was pretty common for me throughout the year.

I made the Happy New Year card with the Silhouette using my Happy New Year digital package. That set is just words so here’s a look at how I made it into a card (basically using the words as a “knock out” on the card):

1. Open Silhouette Studio.
2. File/Open and navigate to the spot on your computer where you downloaded and unzipped the Happy New Year set.
3. Click on the word art. Resize to about 2.9 inches wide.
4. Go to Object/Trace (this will bring up a menu along the right). Click on “Select Trace Area” and drag a box around the word art.
5. In the box titled ” Apply Trace Method” click Trace.
6. Click on the original word art (black) and delete. You should see the red cut lines of the word art.
7. Click the red lined word art. Go to Object/Release Compound Path. Click on any tiny little areas you see that will cut areas out of the text (when I did I removed a bit of extra from inside the “n” and the “e”).
8. Select all the pieces (I just click and drag to catch them all) and go to Object/Make Compound Path (this brings all the pieces back together again).
9. From the menu on the left, click on the rounded corner rectangle and draw a 2.9 inch x 3.9 inch (or so) box. If you are using new Project Life supplies most likely your cards will be 3×4 (the set from this past year were just a bit smaller).
10. Use the red-line rounded corner box to frame the word art.
11. Send to Silhouette to cut.

You can see a tutorial where I walk through the basics of tracing my text files here.

And that’s it! My plan is to continue posting weekly throughout 2012.

I also wanted to mention that I enjoyed this post from Jenny Meyerson that included her reflections from Project Life in 2011. I especially liked this part:

“Since I started Project Life only 7 months ago, it has gone from being big to being enormously popular. Every scrapbook designer is jumping on the bandwagon and that is great. I love the inspiration. But I have now had a 3rd email sent to me within a week from people saying they are so overwhelmed that they are reconsidering Project Life. I understand and the amount of inspiration can be creatively stimulating or can strangle you with envy, if you allow it. Keep in mind your reason for wanting to do Project Life in the first place. If it is to tell your story in a simple way then Project Life is for you. If you like to add pretty stickers, stitch, play with polaroids, then Project Life is for you too. In other words, make it your own and don’t give a rats patootie what anyone else is doing. Enjoy their work and then get back to your own business at hand, which is to live life to the fullest and tell your story. Adopt my new mantra: I do not have to be perfect to have something to offer.”

Yes.

SUPPLIES | WEEK 52

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I also wanted to share this great image that Annie sent me of journal cards she’s making for Project Life. She took a bunch of my digital brushes and printed them out onto clear Avery Mailing labels before adhering them onto the cards and tags. It’s great timing as there’s a brushes sale happening at Designer Digitals – 30% off brushes and stamps – ending at 6am EST on Saturday morning, January 7th.

The sets she used here include:

• Heart Days Of The Week
• This One
• Moving Forward
• The Story

More information about working with digital elements can be found on my Getting Started With Digital Scrapbooking page.

Welcome to Project Life 2012.

Today I want to share my 2012 Title Page and a few thoughts, reflections and things I learned from my process in 2011. My final spread of 2011, Week 52, will be posted later this week.

To say that I’m excited that I’ve almost completed all 52 weeks of 2011 is an understatement.

To say that I’m ready to move on to 2012 would also be an understatement.

I’m so ready and I’m so excited to be doing Project Life again.

Here’s a look at my 2012 Title Page:

Here’s a close up look at each of the cards:

As I was cutting this piece of paper I was thinking to myself that I really need to cut my pattern paper more.

Here I took one of the Clementine core kit cards (includes the sentiment “living life one day at a time”) and cut it following along the lines of the pattern. These little scissors from Fiskars were great at that task. That piece of paper was adhered to a piece of vintage handwriting paper and a bit of Hambly Wings overlay transparency. On top of the three pieces I added an October Afternoon Farmhouse Little Flyers.

That awesome heart paper is from Fancy Pants (I think I’m going to get a few more sheets of that one). I used a sheet from the 6×6 paper pack but it’s also available as a full size 12×12. The tag is a Superfine Soft White Hang Tag from Paper Source. On top of the tag I embossed the words “our story” using these jumbo stamps and white Zing embossing powder. The little “memories” tag is October Afternoon and was stitched onto the tag. Our last name was hand-drawn in Illustrator and then cut with the Silhouette.

A piece of vintage wallpaper from Papier Valise with a piece of chipboard from My Minds Eye Memories Layered Chipboard Stickers on top.

Background pattern paper with the yellow three is from Sassafras and a Hambly Wings overlay was placed on top. The piece of dark grey felt is from My Mind’s Eye Everyday Fun Borders. I took the Everyday Life patterned card from the Clementine core kit and cut it – leaving one of the “everyday life” pieces sticking up.

And this piece, cut with my Silhouette, is available here. It’s part of a package called Hello Life Boxes and also includes days of the week. They work great as PNG files (just print and add your journaling – or add your journaling before you print) or can be cut with the Silhouette (just open the PNG file inside the Studio Software and trace – video tutorial available here).

For more title page ideas you can take a look at my 2011 title page.

SUPPLIES | 2012 TITLE PAGE

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2011 REFLECTIONS & IDEAS

Here’s a few thoughts I wrote down as I finish up 2011 and move on to 2012:

WEEK AT A GLANCE | This approach absolutely worked for me in 2011 and it’s how I intend to continue in 2012. I don’t look at this project as one-photo-per-day or one-story-per-day. There’s nothing rigid beyond intending to contain each week between a spread (two-pages). Some weeks I did end up with a photo-a-day and other weeks I had photos from all one event. Approaching it a week at a time felt free and flexible and there was no guilt about missing something on a particular day (who needs that).

PROCESS | Most of the time I work on my album throughout the week – tiny bits of time here and there. When I write “work on” what I really mean is that I stick stuff in the pockets, quickly jot down stories on the journal cards, and print photos. Some weeks I printed photos during the week and other weeks I printed them all on Monday. One big thing that worked for me was posting each week on my blog on Tuesdays (most of the time) – what that meant for me is that I needed to complete my week on Mondays. Completing my week means I print photos, add journaling if I need to, cut papers down to size that I might have just left sitting on the spread (fill pockets), photographing, uploading to my blog, and writing my post. I’d say most weeks I spend 2 hours (maybe 3) total. It really doesn’t take a lot of time. I really did keep it pretty simple overall. Simple for me = finished.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THE BASIC “STYLE A” PAGE PROTECTORS | My Mom and I were talking about Project Life last week (it’s what she wanted for Christmas) and at first she was talking about all the cool extra page protectors that she wanted to get. My advice to her was to start with the basic Style A (looks like it’s currently sold out). I love Style A. I love it as my basic foundation and from there I can include additional page protector inserts as I need them based on the amount of content I want to include on any particular week. Most of the time when I added a page protector as an insert it was a smaller size: 6×12, 6×12 with pockets for 4×6, 8.5×11 (sometimes cut and stitched to fit an unusual size), etc. I like that the additional content was sandwiched between the two main pages for the week.

INCLUDING REAL LIFE | As many of you know by now, 2011 was a year that included some really big life changes for us. I didn’t include a lot of that in 2011 – partly because it was something I wasn’t ready to make public and partly because this project is not my personal venting journal. My focus in Project Life is more on celebrating all the things that are good. That said, I did include a few things later in 2011 – short references to challenges, etc. so as to not completely ignore what’s very real in my/our life right now. Going forward it’s likely that I’ll continue to include pieces of the more challenging stories but most likely it will be in a way that’s reflective, looking for the good in the situation, lessons learned, etc.

PHOTOS | To capture images I use my Canon 5D (also known as my “big camera”), my iphone, and occasionally my Instax 50. I’m absolutely loving Apple’s new Photo Stream feature which is giving me immediate access to my iphone photos in Aperture (the program I use for photo management) wirelessly. I can also see and access photos I’ve uploaded to my computer from my big camera on my iphone. It’s just one little thing that has simplified my access to all my photos.

PRINTING PHOTOS | My photo process is now pretty set. I’m using an Epson Stylus Photo R2000 to print all my 4×6 photos using Epson photo paper. This is a wide-format printer that can also fit a variety of different sizes, including 4×6. When I set up my system at the beginning of last year I tried out a small 4×6 printer but it ended up not being truly 4×6 in size (it was a Selphy – and it sounds from what I’ve read from others that the prints are now true 4×6 – not sure – all I know is that they weren’t on the machine I had last year). That bugged me. I wanted the picture sizes to be the same size as the cards in the kit and any other 4×6 pieces I was going to include so I ended up sharing that printer with a friend and using my regular printer in my office. I’m so used to it now and am totally happy with the photos.

PENS | I use a combination of pens in Project Life. My favorite everyday pen (and the one that is often most available) is a Uniball Vision Elite. I also love to use Sharpies for a nice contrast and when I’m working in my office I often grab an American Crafts Precision Pen in .03. The vast majority of my journaling in this album is by hand – it’s the quickest and easiest. There were some weeks where I included longer journaling (often using some of my printable Long Journlaers) – those words often came directly from blog posts (where I’m used to typing out longer stories) but most of the time I just used those small cards and made it fit. Those small little bits of recorded life is a big reason I love this project.

BASIC TOOLS | Tiny Attacher for stapling, my printer, photo paper, pens, etc. I kept it pretty basic and am super happy with how it turned out. For me it was never really about any “decoration” and more about just getting stuff documented and keeping it simple enough to keep up with it for the whole year.

CORNER ROUNDING | I rounded all my corners this year and plan to do that again in 2012. It’s one extra step but I love the look. I’ve been using the Corner Chomper (the 1/4 corner) for rounding my corners.

KEEP IT OUT AND AVAILABLE | Throughout most of the week my album sits on a counter in my kitchen. Having the album out and available to stick things in the pockets or jot down comments and things I overheard was huge for me. A big thing I love about this album is the immediacy of the journaling. It’s not looking back last month, or last year, or longer. For the most part it’s not reflective journaling – it’s stuff that’s happening right now; it’s the little stuff that’s really the big stuff of life. Seeing it everyday – on the way in and out of the house – helped me keep up to date. On the weeks when for whatever reason it ended up in my office my journaling was less in the moment because I was trying to go back and remember stuff from the week vs. the more in-the-moment daily stuff that I find I really treasure.

THE FAMILY EFFORT | When I started back in January 2011 I wrote about how I wanted to make this project a family-effort adventure (you can read about that here). Even though it didn’t really work out how I initially envisioned it, I still really like that initial vision of including all our voices whenever possible. I’ll definitely be keeping that in mind again this year even as our family situation evolves. It’s really pretty easy to just hand family members a card and say “write something about today.” If they do it, awesome. If they don’t it means I’ll find something else to include.

KEEPING IT SIMPLE | No over-thinking. No making it more complicated than it needs to be. The beauty in this project is in the whole vs. any one particular week. Some weeks will have less and some will have more. Some will be full of fun stuff and others super boring. Fill up the pockets and move on to the next week vs. worrying that you missed the “perfect” story or photo or anything else. Make it work for you.

Welcome to Project Life | Week Fifty-One.

Here’s a look at the spread:

I repeated a couple photos that were part of a collage for Christmas Day in my December Daily (totally fine with that).

This week feels simple – and it was. Less hustle and bustle and more calm and quiet.

One of the things I was thinking about as I reviewed this week is that I’m thankful even for the short quick little notes jotted down on one of the cards. To me that’s a big part of the awesomeness of this project. Some weeks the journaling is longer and some weeks it’s shorter which is all totally fine in the context of a full album of stories from our lives this year.

I can’t tell you how proud I feel about keeping up with this.

I saw two movies last week on my own (something I enjoy very much): Girl With A Dragon Tattoo and My Week With Marilyn. I liked both of them (had read the book but not seen the Swedish version of Dragon Tattoo) and the salty popcorn. Patiently waiting for The Descendants to come to a theater here – not sure why it’s taking so long.

Almost every photo this week ended up with a sticker from October Afternoon Holiday Style and a 7Gypsies Naked Color Mini Label Sticker.

One more week. I hope you have a wonderful New Year’s celebration.

I’m welcoming 2012 with really big open arms.

SUPPLIES | WEEK 51

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Welcome to Project Life | Week Fifty.

I’ve got a post in the works about my experience with Project Life this year. Hoping to share it in the next couple of weeks after Christmas.

Here’s Week Fifty:

Left side:

Inserts:

Found this one in Simon’s backpack. I’ve never seen him draw Lego guys before – a definite keeper.

And behind the snowman:

This was a homework chart Katie developed as a way to encourage Simon to have a better attitude during homework. Along with this chart she made a “happy face” card and a “frown face” card. When he would start making his super frustrated or complaining or other interesting facial distortions we’d flash the happy face card and it usually diffused the tension and helped him refocus back on the homework at hand.

And the second page:

Less photos this week as more of them found their way into my December Daily. Love that this is a place to capture all the other paper pieces.

SUPPLIES | WEEK 50

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